LUNR Slides Nearly 12% As NASA Unveils Roadmap To Establish Moon Base, Scraps Orbital Space Station Plans

NASA has unveiled a revised roadmap for its lunar ambitions, with NASA administrator Jared Isaacman aiming to return to the lunar surface before the end of President Donald Trump‘s second term at the White House. Lunar Base Plans In a statement released on Tuesday, the agency revealed its plans to establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface. Isaacman, in the statement, shared that NASA was “committed” to return to the Moon “before the end of President Trump's term,” as well as establishing “an enduring presence” by building a moon base. The agency also announced a “phased” approach to the lunar base, aiming to concentrate on “infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations,” by delivering payloads and rovers to the surface of the moon before moving towards “semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics.” NASA had earlier delayed the Artemis II mission launch due to a helium system issue, as the agency shared that it emerged during a routine operation to repressurize the system. The agency is also targeting a crewed flyby mission to the moon before it sends astronauts to the lunar surface. LUNR Slides As NASA Scraps Gateway While doing so, NASA paused the Gateway, which was a proposed space station around the moon in orbit. Intuitive Machines Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) was slated to be a key part of the project. With Gateway scrapped, LUNR slid nearly 12% to $17.92 at market close on Tuesday. However, Intuitive Machines did win a separate $180.4 million contract from the agency as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services ("CLPS") initiative, according to an official statement by the company. Low Earth Orbit, Nuclear Propulsion NASA also plans to focus on maintaining its low Earth orbit presence. “NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station‑anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence,” it said. Reaffirming its commitment towards Mars and Nuclear propulsion, NASA shared that it would be launching the Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, which is touted to be “the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft,” by the agency. NASA aims to launch the spacecraft to Mars before the end of 2028. Earlier, the agency had shared its goals to build nuclear reactors on the surface of the moon, aiming to keep the U.S. ahead of China and Russia. Intuitive Machines Earnings Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines’ fourth-quarter earnings missed market expectations as the company reported a fourth-quarter revenue of $44.78 million, which was below the analyst consensus estimate of $53.68 million. However, CEO Steve Altemus described 2025 as a transformational year for the company. According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, LUNR scores well on the Momentum metric and offers a favorable price trend in the long term. Price Action: LUNR gained 1.62% to $18.21 during overnight trading. Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock